Acer’s DualPlay Mini concept is both a gaming handheld and a mini-laptop

This week Acer is expanding its handheld gaming PC family with the new Predator Atlas 7 featuring a 7 inch, 1080p display, an 80 Wh battery, and support for up to an Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor and 24GB of RAM. It’s expected to go on sale later this year, following the launch of an 8 inch model called the Predator Atlas 8, which is expected to go on sale this month.But the company is also unveiling a concept handheld that’s meant for productivity as well as gaming. Meet Acer’s Project DualPlay Mini.Acer Proejct DualPlay MiniHere’s the basic idea: most handheld gaming PCs capable of running modern Windows or Linux operating systems are already capable of functioning as productivity machines. But with a few exceptions, most don’t include a keyboard or touchpad, which limits their usability.So Acer designed a concept handheld with a keyboard that’s there when you need it, and which hides when you don’t.The backlit keyboard features physical keys that you can use for touch typing, or for games that work best with keyboards. But thanks to a “flip and swivel design,” you can also flip the screen 180 degrees and fold it down over the keyboard when you want to hold the computer in your hands for gaming or other tasks.This design also means that the game controllers face away from the user when you don’t need them.Since this is just a concept device, Acer hasn’t revealed detailed specs, a price, or a release date – we’ll have to see if it becomes a real thing before we get any of those things. But Acer does note that its concept device has “the same dual-fan cooling architecture as the Predator Atlas 8” with one plastic fan and one metal fan, although the metal fan in this model has slightly thinner blades.Pictures also show at least two USB Type-C ports, and a keyboard with highlighted W, A, S, and D keys as well as arrow keys, just in case there was any doubt that this was a gaming device. Acer Proejct DualPlay Mini Acer Proejct DualPlay Mini Acer Proejct DualPlay Mini Acer Proejct DualPlay Mini Acer Proejct DualPlay Mini Acer Predator Atlas 7